The Asian carp can grow to 100 pounds, and could severely damage the lakes' ecosystems if they invade the waters. Just last month, an Asian carp was discovered in a Chicago waterway, about six miles from Lake Michigan. The carp had apparently made its way through an electric barrier specifically built to block the fish's passage.

Moskowitz lives in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, not far from Lake Huron. She's concerned about the Asian carp's threat to the Great Lakes and decided to do something about it. She circulated a petition to turn Washington's attention to the potential problem and hopes to soon head to the nation's capital to champion the cause. Moskowitz enters the 6th grade in the fall; she joins us to discuss the issue, along with her father, Michael Moskowitz.

Comments [6]

What an amazing project to take on, for anyone, let alone an 11 year old! Kudos to you, Ellie, and you family, teachers, and community for supporting you. I will be signing your petition as soon as I press send!

This story was dripping with "cute", but lacked a lot of worthy, detailed substance on the nature of the Asian carp problem and the grave, irreparable, immienent threat posed to the entire Great Lakes ecosystem.

Yes, Ellie Moskowitz is right, and I shall happily sign her petition.

But let's review this problem in more detail, because there really is a very big, very bad guy in all of this: President Obama, who has the power to close the locks in the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal, but won't, playing politics with his pals in the Chicago area political machine.

The Canal is more than 100 years old. It is a federal project, run jointly by the Army Corps of Engineers, the Coast Guard and the USEPA. As such, the Cheif Executive of the United States, one President Barack H. Obama, has the total power to close the locks to protect the Great Lakes.

In a legal longshot (to save critical time) the Republican Attorneys General from most of the Great Lakes states tried but failed to repoen a 70 year-old Supreme Court case that dealt with water rights relating to the canal. Obama directed his Solicitor General, one Elena Kagan, to oppose the lawsuit and keep the Canal open.

So now, there will be considerable delay while the same Attorneys General start an all-new federal lawsuit in Chicago, to close the locks.

So Ellie Moskowitz -- forget Congress. The man to take your petiton to, and to demand an answer from, is President Obama and all of his Chicago cronies in the White House.